I Samuel 25:31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. 32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 

David is very angry with Nabal. He is on his way to kill Nabal and all those with him. Abigail (Nabal's wife) arrives and gives David what David has asked for. She then reminds him that if he kills Nabal that he will cause himself grief.

Today it will feel good, but in the future, it will be an offense in his heart. It will someday be a grief to him. He will eventually be sorry that he took vengeance on someone he feels has done him wrong. The day will come when others will remind him, and he will be embarrassed. 

So Abigail gives him good advice. David sees her wisdom and will later know that he did not make this horrible mistake.

The question that comes to us today is, what causes you grief now? How often do you want to do something today that you know will embarrass you in the future? You can get your vengeance today, but it will hurt you in the end.

It may be those words of anger that you want to say to someone. It may be the shortcuts you want to take in ministry, education, or work that will one day come back to haunt you. Be careful to choose only to serve God. Be careful to do right today.

Even though your anger and your vengeance feel good today, they will like to cause you grief tomorrow. Think it through. Does it matter? Will it matter in 10 years? Can you wait on God to handle this situation and not get embarrassed? 

Don't make a mistake today that will cause you great embarrassment for years.

So often, I want to defend myself. That means I want to attack someone that is perceived to be attacking me. What a foolish mistake I make in these situations.

That is similar to what was happening with David. He was going to kill Nabal. He had been offended. God stopped David from this mistake with Abigail's help.

Thank God for using people to make us stop and think. What a mistake we make when we avenge ourselves. God knows how to take care of us.